Man’s Necessary Response

At this point we need to understand what kind of response is required on our part to receive this gift of eternal life that God has promised in the previous verses we have studied. To get a clear picture of what our response needs to be let’s consider another verse in Romans that continues to describe the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9 gives us this insight as it states “that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This appears to me to be quite clear. It also lines up with many other verses throughout God’s word that obviously tells us that we must respond to God’s offer. One of the most well know and quoted scriptures is found in . As a matter of fact, John 3:16 declares the complete gospel. That is why it is so often used to share a witness with an unbeliever. The very words of this verse “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” makes it clear that God offers this gift to all men, not just some select few.

Notice that two actions are spelled out in Romans 10:9. Both are required on our part. First, we must believe in our hearts and not just with our minds. This means that there is no question that what God has said is true and we put our confidence in His word. Second, we also must openly confess our belief that Jesus is Lord.

Paul continues to describe this in Romans 10:10 as it reads “for with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Again, how much clearer can it be. It is not complicated, it is very simple. All it takes is just what Paul has outlined in these verses, nothing more, nothing less. God has done everything necessary to provide the way for man to be saved from the power and penalty of sin and to have an intimate relationship with Him. The price was paid at the cross! An old song I remember from my childhood goes something like this: